PowerOptions Adds Further Depth to its Team with Innovation, Business Development Positions

New Hires Renew Commitment to Service, Innovation, Member Growth

BOSTON – PowerOptions, New England’s leading energy buying consortium, begins 2018 with new depth in its team who will utilize decades of expertise to support the organization’s foundational commitment to extensive product and service advancement. The two new hires will ensure that PowerOptions stays on the forefront of innovation and brings the benefits to even greater numbers of nonprofits and public entities.

Kristen Patneaude joins PowerOptions as Director of Innovation from the state Department of Energy Resources, and Rita Moran joins as Business Development Manager after more than three decades in senior roles at National Grid.

“Rita Moran and Kristen Patneaude bring vast new depth to our small but powerful team and will bring that innovative, front-line thinking to our members every day,” said PowerOptions President and CEO Cynthia A. Arcate.

Kristen Patneaude, Director of Innovation

Patneaude will be responsible for developing and implementing new, customer-oriented supplemental energy products and services for PowerOptions’ more than 500 nonprofit and government members in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Patneaude joins PowerOptions from DOER, where she supported the state’s clean energy and climate adaptation goals as Energy Storage and Resiliency Program Coordinator. Prior to that, she worked for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority for more than twenty years, in a variety of project management roles and then as the Program Manager for Energy Management, leading the agency’s efforts on energy cost and demand reduction, and development and optimization of renewable energy.

Rita Moran, Business Development Manager

As Business Development Manager, Moran will support PowerOptions members in Central and Western Massachusetts. She will also pursue member growth in the region, as well as in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Prior to joining PowerOptions, Moran worked for National Grid for more than 30 years in various customer-centric roles. For the past three years, Moran worked as Principal Program Manager of Performance and Strategy for the company’s Massachusetts jurisdiction, leading community and grid modernization initiatives, including establishing the Worcester Sustainability Hub. During her time at National Grid, Moran worked extensively to support the energy service and efficiency needs of customers.

Moran is active in the business community and previously held leadership positions with multiple groups, including the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce as Treasurer, Better Business Bureau of Central New England as Board Chair, and the Regional Research Bureau as Vice Chair.

The addition of Patneaude and Moran comes at a time of growth for PowerOptions, as it seeks to share its market intelligence and energy buying expertise with more nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.